Paleo autumn pizza
How good does this seasonally inspired gluten and grain free pizza look? It’s a real piece of art and looks so festive, you could even serve it for a casual Christmas or New Years’ dinner!
Best of all: it’s a fool proof recipe.
Even-better-for-you Paleo pizza crust
For the crust, I adapted the authentic Paleo pizza recipe from Gluten Free on a shoestring. However, I wanted to make it more allergen friendly and less inflammatory, so I omitted the almond flour and used tiger nut flour instead.
Gluten free, paleo, keto and low carb recipes often rely heavily on nuts and nut flours. This is not a bad thing per se (who doesn’t love nuts?) but it’s very easy to overdo it on the nuts. Nuts can be very nutritious but they're easy to overeat, contain anti-nutrients, and are high in omega-6 fatty acids.
Why you shouldn’t overdo it on the nuts
Most nuts and seeds contain different types of fatty acids. Omega-3 is generally considered a healthy fat because of its anti-inflammatory properties. In contrast, omega-6 is inflammatory. Both of those fatty acids play important roles in the human body. But if the balance is off (because you eat too much food that’s high in omega-6 fatty acids), chronic inflammation can occur, increasing your long-term risk of developing chronic diseases. The ideal ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 is somewhere between 1:1 and 1:4.
Unfortunately, most of us maintain a diet that’s much higher in omega-6s than omega-3s, thanks to vegetable and seed oils, processed foods and grain-fed animal protein.
Many people are also allergic or intolerant to nuts. Personally, I don’t do very well with daily nut consumption and my body can only tolerate small amounts. As soon as cut out my daily almond milk drinks and almond flour based bread, my eczema cleared.
A note on tigernuts
How is replacing almonds by another type of nut any good, I hear you think? Well, tiger nuts aren’t actually nuts!
And what sets tiger nuts apart is that unlike nuts and seeds which are naturally high in omega 6, they contain more of the monounsaturated fatty acid type. This is important since we take in a lot of omega 6 fatty acids through our diet and not enough of the other omegas which can sway this ratio into more of an inflammatory state.
Ingredients and instructions for the crust
1 cup (120g) finely ground tiger nut flour
1 3/4 cups (210 g) tapioca flour + 3 tbsp for dusting
2 tsp (6g) instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup (80ml) warm water
3 tbsp(42g) extra virgin olive oil, + 1 tbsp for brushing
1 tbsp (21 g) honey (don’t worry - the yeast will ferment this)
1 egg (50g) at room temperature, beaten
2 tsp garlic powder
Mix the tiger nut flour, tapioca starch, salt, garlic powder and instant yeast. Add water, olive oil, honey, and egg, and mix until a sticky batter forms. Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until a dough forms.
Dust your hands with tapioca flour and shape the dough into a ball (see picture on the right). Place the ball of dough in the bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and place it in a warm place for about 1,5h (it should swell to 150% or more of its size).
Place a pizza stone or large, overturned baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 190C.
Dust your hands with tapioca flour and transfer the ball of dough to a sheet of parchment paper. Pat the dough out into a circle (about 30cm in diameter), pushing out toward the edges to form puffy edges. Brush with olive oil and pierce the dough (not the rim). Bake for 8-10 minutes until it starts to brown.
Ingredients and instructions for the topping
300gr of fresh stracciatella (or 200gr of ricotta / cream cheese and one burrata ball)
1 aubergine, cut in slices
1/2 pomegranate
1 tbsp molasses
3 cloves fresh garlic minced or 2 tsp dried garlic granules
2 tsp salt and pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp tarragon, mint or other herb of choice
Grease a large oven sheet with olive oil. Slice the aubergine. Place in oven sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and half of the garlic. Roast in the oven or air fryer on 190C for 15 minutes.
Mix the stracciatella with the garlic, salt and pepper and spread out evenly across the pizza. Add the aubergine slices. If you’re using burrata and ricotta, mix garlic, salt and pepper with the ricotta. Spread the crust with ricotta, add aubergine slices and then burrata.
Return to the oven for 5-7 minutes until the crust is nice and brown.
While the pizza is in the oven, mix molasses with balsamic vinegar. Once the pizza is done, sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and drizzle with the balsamic vinegar and molasses mixture. Decorate with fresh tarragon or other herb of choice.
